At Alliance Française on Fridays at 8 pm
The Alliance Française shows its series of French films in a small room in their building at 138 Charoen Prathet Road. The building is directly opposite Wat Chaimongkhon, near the Chedi Hotel. Tell your taxi "Samakhom Frangset" and/or "Wat Chaimongkhon."A contribution of 30 baht is requested; you pay outside at the information desk of the Alliance Française proper.
At Alliance Française on Friday, March 12, 8 pm: Le sauvage / Call Me Savage / Lovers Like Us / The Savage (1975) by Jean-Paul Rappenau – 105 mins – France/ Italy, Comedy/ Drama/ Romance. English subtitles.
With Yves Montand, Catherine Deneuve, Luigi Vannuchi, Tony Roberts, Dana Winter.
Screams, gunshots, escapes, car chases, punches and pain, laughs and tears. The French Connection? No! A love story between one woman, several men and a enchanting island. Martin left Nelly for that island. He is “Le Sauvage”, a proud man in his forties, in peace in his loneliness. But everything is going to change...
– Alliance description
Time Out Film Guide: A commonplace toujours l'amour tragi-farce whose only justification lies in the decorative presence of its two stars. The urbane Montand as a self-sufficient sauvage on the run from the unacceptable face of his wife's cosmetic empire, growing vegetables on an island retreat, is a strain on the imagination. But for credibility he has the edge on Deneuve. Her divine sang-froid hardly lends itself to a role that requires her to be part Doris Day, part Claudia Cardinale. The runaway pace is maintained by operatic slapstick, tempestuousness verging on insanity, hysterical dialogue that occasionally lurches into Spanish and American, and a dazzling range of locations (Venezuela, New York, Provence).
Film4: A clever and classy screwball comedy, with Deneuve and Montand the eye-catching couple who leave their respective partners and end up running off around the world with each other. There is not much of substance here: it is not the most original story, and there are some lame plot contrivances that make it a little pedestrian. But the settings are well filmed, and the two leads are utterly charming, attractive and funny. Deneuve in particular shines, displaying a genuine gift for comedy, which has not exactly been her trademark. Flimsy but likeable.
At Alliance Française on Friday, March 19, 8 pm: Le silence est d'or / Silence is Golden / Man About Town (1947) written and directed by René Clair – 100 mins -- Comedy/ Drama/ Romance. In Black and White. English subtitles.
With Maurice Chevalier, François Perier, Dany Robin.
A witty comedy set in the beginning of the century among silent movie actors...
– Alliance description
Even in 1947, Clair's belated Valentine to the silent period, one of his few memorable postwar films, was so deliciously passé in style as almost to pass for an example of the work to which it pays wistful tribute. With Chevalier (whose heavily accented delivery sounds decidedly odd in French) as an ageing boulevardier, Périer as his youthful nemesis, and Dany Robin as the midinette who comes between them, the plot is pure convention, but the gentle humor and wealth of period detail (from both the turn of the century and the '40s) have an enduring charm.
At Alliance Française on Friday, March 26, 8 pm: Mr. Klein (1976) by Joseph Losey – 123 mins – France/ Italy, Crime/ Drama/ Mystery/ Thriller/ War. English subtitles.
With Alain Delon, Michel Lonsdale, Jeanne Moreau, Juliette Bert, Massimo Girotti, Suzanne Flon.
In occupied France during the Second World War,an antique collector of Alsatian descent, Mr. Klein, is mistakenly taken for a Jew and mercilessly tracked down by the Gestapo…
– Alliance description
Rotten Tomatoes: Alain Delon stars as the eponymous protagonist in Joseph Losey's first French film, Mr. Klein.Living a posh life amid the chaos and turmoil of Nazi-occupied Paris, Mr. Klein makes his living buying art at cutthroat rates from desperate Jews fleeing the country. When a Jewish newspaper is mistakenly addressed to him, Klein learns of the existence of another, Jewish Mr. Klein. Klein reports the irregularity to the police, only to find himself further implicated in intrigue and danger. Embarking on a desperate search for his namesake, Klein visits his apartment and intercepts a secret invitation, bringing him into contact with the other Klein's world--and lover (played by Jeanne Moreau). Sinking into a paranoid fervor, Klein becomes a detective, searching for any evidence of the other Klein's whereabouts. As the Nazis close in and his double continues to elude him, the very name Mr. Klein, echoing sinisterly throughout the film, becomes a talisman of fear and panicked guilt. The secret societies and poisoned atmosphere of Vichy France come to life as Mr. Klein's Kafkaesque nightmare leads him unwittingly into a startled appreciation of the plight of the persecuted. Losey's restrained direction matched with Delon's emotive presence combine to create a powerful psychological and moral thriller.
No comments:
Post a Comment